Comparing hair from the back of the head to the top.

[jonnykino]

I'm sure I read this somewhere. Am not entirely sure, so figured I'd check here.

Is it true, that if hair was thinning, and you pulled a hair from the top of your head, and compared it with one from the back (since hair doesn't usually fall out from the back and sides), and the one from the top was thinner, then your hair was thinning?

I don't think I made this up, but I can't remember if this is true. Anyway, I tried it, and the hair I pulled from the top was the same thickness as the one from the back. But if I brush my hands through my hair and if any hairs appear, they can be thinner. But then I dunno whether that's just cuz am very blonde. Argh.

Either way, kinda wish I hadn't done it now cuz I have an irritated scalp, and pulling at my hair didn't help my scalps itchiness at all. Oh well.

[mattj]

That hair plucking test is a very basic and easy-to-understand way of comparing miniaturized hairs to healthy hairs. The flaw is that we don't lose all our hair at once, so if you pluck a healthy hair from the top then it'll compare well to hairs from the back and sides. So the real test is to examine yourself and your shed hairs more closely to see whether you have hairs going through the process of miniaturization. (That and observing whether you've lost density or are receding, of course)

It sounds like you have noticed some miniaturized hairs, so you've seen for yourself the flaw in basing a judgement on a single plucked hair.

[jonnykino]

Thanks for the prompt reply.

I just don't know if it's all in my head, or whether there is some cause for concern. I've got OCD, and think I've got this BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder) thing as well, so I dunno whether it's that going into overdrive. Am constantly checking my hair and scalp in different lights. Like everyday. If something seems wrong I come to a forum and post new pictures. Other days it doesn't bother me at all, since, well... my hair is thick, I've been told my crown parts in different ways and is still as thick as it ever was, and that I still have my juvenile hairline.

I went the GP about my scalp and I was told it's seborrhoeic dermatitis, and I was given some shampoo to use. So that explains the red scalp on the pictures I posted a while back. I just don't know whether I am purposely looking for fault with my hair. I looked online and found out that blonde hair is the thinnest of all hairs... but as I said, mines thick, meaning, there's a lot of hair, so the strands are probably thin compared to brown hair etc. It's just playing on my mind all the time.

Sorry for my little rant about myself there lol.

Again, thanks for the reply.

[drgrant]

Sounds like you may be more paranoid than actually have reason for concern.

First, I have found with a lot of people as well as myself that the hair on top of the head is thinner than around the sides or back, regardless of whether they are losing their hair or not. Even when I was younger this was the case for me, and on many women as well, the top of the head is thinner.

You say that your hair is blonde and fine, but that there is a lot of it. That means that even if you were thinning, it wouldn't be too noticeable. Even if your hairs get replaced by thinner and thinner strands, you will still probably have a lot of hairs, it will just look like very fine hair.